..By PAUL MOSER Special to AllAroundPhilly.com

This new wave of sport – and, really, there is no other way to classify it – uses ramps, steps, benches and even trash cans. Jerseys are replaced by ripped jeans and T-shirts. Harry Carey’s “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” is replaced by Disturbed’s “Down with the Sickness."

We’re speaking, of course, of action sports such as skateboarding, in-line skating and BMX riding.

Why, you ask, is such discussion found on the sports pages? As surprising as it may seem to traditionalists out there, action sports are replacing footballs, basketballs and catcher’s mitts at a record pace.

Consider: A recent study done by the National Sporting Goods Association found that approximately 9.1 million kids participated in skateboarding in 2000, 102 percent more than those doing so in 1995. Snowboarding is up 53.6 percent in a similar poll. In the same time frame, basketball and football participation has dropped 9.6 percent. 

For those involved in those types of action sports on display this week for ESPN’s eighth-annual 2002 Summer X-Games in Philadelphia, it comes as little surprise.

"For years all the schools had everything to do with sports seen on TV – baseball, basketball and football – and it seemed if you wanted to make anything of yourself athletically you would follow in the footsteps of those sports," said former ESPN X-Games gold medallist Jamie Bestwick, a BMX rider. "Now people are progressing forward with new sports and the kids see there is a future out there other than one that is stuck with a ball in your hand."

Indeed.

While the money allowed action sports athletes is still minuscule when compared to the Kevin Garnett contracts of the NBA or Alex Rodriguez salaries of baseball, the gap is closing with mainstream action athletes Dave Mirra, Brian Deegan and crossover superstar Tony Hawk forging the way.

At the very least, there is a brighter light at the end of the tunnel.

"If you turn pro (in the four major sports) you’re guaranteed you're making a lot of money but our sport doesn't guarantee that and never did," said Mirra, holder of a record 13 X-Games BMX medals. "You take my caliber of rider and put him on a basketball court, what's he going to make? It's a whole different ballgame. With one year they can retire and say ‘later’ to everything and that's great that they have that opportunity. Hopefully the kids that ride bikes will someday have that same thing."

Until that day, action sports continue to plug along with its ever-growing fan base. It is a crowd fueled by the image and excitement of the alternative sport. Though a healthy attitude by its athletes doesn’t hurt either.

"If they like the way I ride and they ask me for my autograph - that’s just a couple seconds of my time — and that’s nothing while I’m at a contest," Bestwick said. "I like it that our sport is getting recognized. If I can help in any way to broaden people’s horizons, educate them about BMX, (that’s great)."

The same, it would appear, cannot be said of high-priced mainstream athletes considering there are more than enough stories of pampered professionals passing over autograph-hungry admirers. Hardly ever is one disappointed, though, with the availability of an action sport participant.

"Kids can come up and talk to us and we’ll sign autographs without end," popular dirt BMX rider Ryan Nyquist explained. "We’re hungrier for the fans and get to that level with them. There could be a number of reasons for the change. It could be players making millions and crying about it."

Availability is only a part of the growth of those about to take over the First Union Center this week, however. It could be argued an even a greater advantage is those athletes identify easier with their rapidly growing fan base. After all, whom would a rebellious youth identify with more — 7-foot-plus Shaquille O’Neal, 300-pound-plus Warren Sapp or 5-foot-9-inch 155-pound BMX superstar Mirra?

"I know for a fact that the three major sports are definitely dying off because it’s so much more realistic for kids to see themselves as X-Games athletes," Moto-X icon Deegan said. "I think kids can relate to us a lot better. With big football stars, kids never get to see them without their helmets on. Anyone can come up and meet all of us as far as I’m concerned."

With that being said, let’s not mix words.

Will action sports ever replace basketball, football or baseball? Probably not. Will they generate the same amount of money? Most likely no. Are they allowing greater opportunity for youth? Without a doubt, especially considering the is-it-or-is-it-not-a—sport hang-up appears to be fading.

"Any sport that involves people going toward a winner I consider a sport," Bestwick said. "People hit a small white ball with a stick of metal on grass and it’s called sport. People race cars and it’s called sport. I think there is a strong case for action sports to be considered sport."

And, arguably, that acceptance is the main threat to those sports that have gripped a monopoly on children’s after-school activities for the longest time.

"What you see with these sports is they continue to become part of our culture," Ron Semiao, vice president, programming and managing director for the Global X-Games, said during a panel discussion at the annual Associated Press Sports Editors convention. "If anything, we’re seeing that appeal and interest is increasing."

Where it will stop, nobody knows, but those involved in the counter-culture, action-sports movement have a good idea. It is attention the athletes, with the word athlete stressed, felt they deserved all along.

"The level of discipline and athleticism is on par with baseball and basketball," Bestwick said. "At the end of the day our sports do deserve the same amount of credit."

An inevitability considering the direction of today’s youth.
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